Aqua America Rises After 2013 Profit Climbs Almost 13%

By Randall Hackley -
Feb 28, 2014

Aqua America Inc. (WTR), the second-biggest publicly traded water utility in the U.S., rose to a 15-week high in New York trading after reporting net income
advanced almost 13 percent last year to $221.3 million.

Aqua America expects to invest $1 billion in water-related
infrastructure projects and pipe replacements in the next three
years, the Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania-based company said late
yesterday in a statement. It raised its dividend 9 percent and
announced a 5-for-4 stock split that took effect Sept. 1, 2013.

Fourth-quarter profit was $57.5 million, almost 14 percent
lower than the year-earlier period when a repair tax accounting
change in the company’s Pennsylvania subsidiary “positively
impacted” results, it reported. Aqua America completed 15
acquisitions in four states last year and “profitably divested
the company’s unprofitable Florida operations,” it said.

“In 2014, we’re off to a strong start on our growth-through-acquisition strategy including an agreement with the
city of Chicago Heights in Cook County, Illinois,” Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer Nicholas DeBenedictis said in the
statement.

Aqua America shares rose 1.5 percent to $25.19 at the close
in New York, the highest since Nov. 11.